Video: Mechanical vs. Organic Solidarity

In this lesson, we'll talk about the sociologist Emile Durkheim's concepts of mechanical and organic solidarity. We'll go over the difference between these two forms of social integration that hold different types of societies together.

In this lesson, we'll talk about the sociologist Emile Durkheim's concepts of mechanical and organic solidarity. We'll go over the difference between these two forms of social integration that hold different types of societies together.

Emile Durkheim

Emile Durkheim is widely considered one of the founders of modern sociology, and his ideas have been extremely influential. He was interested in a number of different things, but in this lesson we'll focus on his interests in different types of civilizations. In particular, we'll talk about his interests in what binds people together a little bit. But before we get to that, let's give a bit more background on some of Durkheim's main ideas.

Durkheim comes from a perspective of social theory known as functionalism. This perspective considers how society functions as different parts that make up a whole. In this perspective, society functions like a biological organism. We need order and consensus to maintain this system.

For Durkheim, a key component to this is solidarity. Now, let's get on to Durkheim's types of solidarity, which might be a little different than what we typically think about when we think of the word 'solidarity'.

Mechanical Solidarity

Durkheim was interested in the organization of society, and he believed that different types of societies were characterized by different types of solidarity. Another way to think about solidarity is as a kind of social integration. How are we bound together in society?

According to Durkheim, small, early societies are characterized by mechanical solidarity because there is very little division of labor (meaning, there aren't too many different jobs), people rely on kinship networks, and most people kind of do the same job. In other words, these societies are not very complex. Mechanical solidarity holds these societies together, and we are bound by our sameness.

These societies tended to be small, rural villages. We didn't see much division of labor between the sexes, either. Durkheim also sees us as sharing the same belief system in simpler societies. Durkheim refers to this as our collective consciousness, and it's very strong in simpler societies. Durkheim felt this was necessary to the overall functioning of society, and, in fact, a disruption to shared common values was punished very swiftly and strictly in these societies.

But, what happens when society gets more complicated? Durkheim believed that at that point, it was characterized by a different kind of solidarity.

Organic Solidarity

Organic solidarity is Durkheim's belief about how solidarity works in more complex societies. As societies become bigger and more complicated, one major thing that changes is the division of labor. In other words, the variety of jobs people do becomes greater. We see a lot more specialization in our society. But, when this happens, we also see our interdependence increase in more complicated societies. Durkheim believes this is because now that we're not simply producing things for ourselves or our immediate kin networks, we need each other more.

Our collective conscious does start to lessen in more complex societies. Because we're all doing different things, we rely on each other to get those tasks done. One of the biggest differences between mechanical and organic solidarity is that mechanical solidarity is based on the fact that we're all really similar in simple societies. In more complex societies, there's a lot of difference - and it's actually in this difference that we need each other more! We become more interdependent because of this.

Lesson Summary

Emile Durkheim is one of the most important figures in modern sociology. He's considered part of a school of thought known as functionalism. Durkheim sees society as a bunch of parts that work together to form a whole. For Durkheim, one of the keys to understanding how society maintains its cohesion and how individuals maintain their ties to one another is the idea of solidarity.

Durkheim came up with two types of solidarity, each corresponding to a different type of society. Simply, early societies are characterized by mechanical solidarity, which is based on likeness. In other words, in simple societies we're all kind of alike. There is a very small division of labor. We kind of all do the same tasks. We rely on our kinship networks, and we share collective conscious that binds us together.

As societies become more complex, though, we shift to what Durkheim calls organic solidarity, which is more about difference than likeness. In more advanced societies, the division of labor becomes much larger. We all have more specialized jobs, and we begin to rely on each other more in order for society to function. We might be losing some of our collective consciousness, but a complex society requires us to be even more interdependent on one another.

Summary:

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